Montreal to hold off on more Tasers for police following racial bias report

Days after the release of an unflattering report revealing the extent of racial bias in the Montreal police service, the city has put on hold a plan to equip all patrollers with stun guns.

The independent report, commissioned by the City of Montreal, found that Indigenous and black people were four to five times more likely than white people to be stopped by police.

The report included recommendations for police to create a street check policy, develop additional procedures to monitor racial profiling and continue to train police officers on preventing systemic discrimination.

On Thursday, the city said it would hold off on a plan to equip more officers with Tasers and make those recommendations a priority instead.

Police initially asked for more Tasers in April 2018, citing a recommendation from Quebec coroner Luc Malouin, who wrote a report following the February 2014 death of Alain Magloire.

Magloire, who was homeless and mentally ill, was fatally shot by police while officers waited for the arrival of an officer equipped with a stun gun.

Currently, there is at least one stun gun at each local police station and one in every patrol car in downtown Montreal and in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.

Dan Philip, president of the Black Coalition of Quebec told CBC that he fears equipping more officers with stun guns could result in people of colour facing more danger when they're stopped by police.

He referred to stun guns as "just another unnecessary tool in order to suppress people." He said that Tasers can be deadly, depending on the circumstance.

He pointed to the 2007 death of Montrealer Quillem Registre, who was Tasered six times by police and died four days later.

Rosannie Filato, the executive committee member responsible for public security, said the city will re-evaluate whether to buy more Tasers in 2020.

"It's not the priority right now," said Filato. "Notably, the recommendations that were made on Monday by the three researchers related to racial profiling. For us, it will be important to focus on training of police when it comes to profiling and de-escalation."